With November approaching and Canada observing Financial Literacy Month, this edition of Retired Money highlights a new Canadian DIY retirement course created by MoneySense columnist Kyle Prevost, who writes the “Making Sense of the Markets” column.
Called 4 Steps to a Worry-Free Retirement, the multimedia course targets the same readers as this column: people planning to retire within the next decade or two, semi-retirees, and anyone already retired who wants to refine their retirement income strategy.
Prevost is also a co-blogger at Million Dollar Journey, a long-running personal finance site. As both a personal finance expert and a school teacher, he brings the combination of subject knowledge and instructional skill to the course—qualities that make this offering stand out in Canada.
Multimedia retirement courses remain uncommon compared with traditional books, which arrive daily in many reviewers’ inboxes. Younger Canadians, who often favor short, dynamic videos over lengthy printed guides, may find Prevost’s fast-paced audio-visual format especially appealing. The course blends professional graphics and voice-over narration by Prevost with longer background pieces and interviews recorded at the annual Canadian Financial Summit.
No one cares about your retirement as much as you
A central message throughout the course is simple and direct: no one will care about your retirement as much as you do. That principle—an iteration of the familiar “no one cares about your money more than you do”—shapes the course’s tone and practical guidance.
The course is available at worryfreeretire.com. A “Tell me more” option lets you preview the curriculum before purchasing, while the “Get Started” button opens payment options that include major credit cards.
At $499, the course represents a meaningful investment. For many DIY retirees, however, the cost may be justified by the clarity and independence of the advice offered—especially compared with sales-driven guidance from some financial industry professionals.
Notable endorsements underline the course’s strengths. Consumer advocate and former Toronto Star personal finance columnist Ellen Roseman praised Prevost’s research and plainspoken style, noting the usefulness of interactive multimedia for learning how to withdraw retirement funds sustainably. Fee-only planner and columnist Jason Heath commended Prevost’s teaching ability and said the course succeeds in educating and empowering retirees and pre-retirees.
My review of Worry-Free Retirement
I spent several weeks working through the course to prepare this review. The program contains 16 units. Each unit begins with a concise audio-visual overview and is followed by more detailed background articles, video interviews, and supplementary links. I recommend tackling one unit per session; there’s a lot of material to absorb.
The opening unit estimates how much money you are likely to need for retirement in Canada. Subsequent units explore core public programs such as the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS), along with employer-sponsored pensions, covering both defined benefit and defined contribution plans. Later modules examine the widely cited 4% safe withdrawal rule—treated here as a useful starting point rather than an absolute rule.
Unit six, titled “Working for a Playcheck,” resonated with me because that phrase appears in Victory Lap Retirement, a book I co-wrote in 2014. Units seven and eight delve into investing fundamentals, addressing what to own in a portfolio and how to buy and sell securities efficiently.
Units nine and ten explain registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs) and tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs), and they walk through decumulation strategies, including the important step of converting RRSPs to RRIFs at age 71. Unit 11 looks at annuities and how they can form part of a retirement income plan.
Units 12 and 13 focus on housing decisions: whether to carry a mortgage into retirement, and the trade-offs among downsizing, reverse mortgages, and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs). Units 14 and 15 examine insurance topics, including long-term care insurance—where Prevost tends to advise caution—and life insurance in retirement.
The final unit, Unit 16, offers an upbeat look at retiring sooner and living with more freedom. Prevost draws on his experience living abroad to discuss options for retirees who consider moving overseas to lower living costs, escape harsh winters, or pursue a different lifestyle. He addresses common questions about retaining CPP and OAS benefits for Canadians living abroad, and he notes important tax and benefit considerations for expatriates.
Pros and cons
Like any financial education product, this course has strengths and limitations. The cost could deter some prospective students, but Prevost’s credentials as an educator and his long-standing commitment to financial literacy help justify the price for many. The course is independent in tone and frank on topics such as long-term care insurance, which Prevost critiques rather than promoting for most people.
Overall, 4 Steps to a Worry-Free Retirement in Canada is a well-organized, practical course that merits serious consideration from anyone planning retirement or already navigating that transition. Its clear structure, instructional approach, and breadth of topics make it a useful tool for building confidence in retirement planning.
Read more about financial literacy:
- The best free personal finance and investing courses in Canada
- How to deal with money and your finances when the economy is stressing you out
- Alberta Pension Plan: Why Alberta wants to leave the CPP—and what would replace it
- What’s the RRSP deadline?